United States Representative, District 20

Vince Fong represents California's 20th District in Congress. He won a special election in 2024. Before that he spent nearly ten years on Congressman Kevin McCarthy's staff. He also spent eight years in the California State Assembly. There he worked on energy and transportation bills. In Washington he sits on committees for transportation, science and homeland security. His office says he pushes for water and infrastructure money for Central Valley farmers. He also backs military bases like China Lake and Edwards.

He says the talk in Washington about California is too often about big cities, not rural places like his. Before he could take his House seat, the Secretary of State tried to keep him off the ballot. He was running for two offices at once. Fong sued over it. Courts at two levels ruled in his favor. He then ran for and won both races. He later backed a bill to make the rule clearer for future candidates.

He promises to keep pushing for water funding. He wants more energy production and stronger support for the district's military bases. He has also criticized California's high speed rail project. He says it is not living up to what voters were promised.

Sandra Van Scotter has worked for twenty years as a respiratory therapist. She now works directly with adults who have intellectual and developmental disabilities in Ridgecrest. The state's council on developmental disabilities appointed her to advise the regional center that serves Kern, Inyo and Mono counties. She says she is not learning about these issues. She says she lives them, since her own son also uses that system.

She decided to run after clients in her care worried about possible cuts to Medicaid. She says the district has gone without answers for too long. She points to no town halls and letters that go unanswered. She has not held elected office. Her record here is her advocacy work and what she promises to do.

She promises to protect and expand Medi-Cal coverage. She wants to focus on water and energy needs in the Central Valley. She also promises to hold regular town halls to answer directly to voters.